The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Y. C Maikyau, OON, SAN has roundly condemned a statement purportedly made by an aide to the Nasarawa State Commissioner for Works, whose arrest and remand was ordered by a Magistrate in the state, over an alleged continued disobedience to a court order.

The aide, one Aliyu Bello Aliyu, is reported to have stated that the Magistrate, Aisha Abdullahi erred in issuing the order on the 31st of October, 2022 and will undergo “special punishment”. When the Magistrate was recently transferred from the Senior Magistrate Court, Uke where she presides to Agwada, Kokona LGA and the case reassigned, speculations ran rife that it was a punitive measure arising from her order against the said commissioner.

Speaking at the ongoing All Nigerian Judges Conference 2022, holding at the National Judicial Institute, Abuja today,14th November, 2022 Maikyau reiterated the NBA’s absolute support of the judiciary and indicated that he would reach out to the Chief Judge and Honourable Attorney General of Nasarawa State to investigate and address the issues. He condemned, on behalf of the Nigerian Bar Association, in the “strongest possible terms”, the guts and effrontery of the Commissioner’s aide to deliver a “ruling”on the conduct of the Magistrate issuing that warrant, stating that such statement can never be within the ambit of any aide to any Commissioner or even the Commissioner himself.

“We are not people who do not know what to do when it comes to issues that seem to tamper with the integrity of the court. That is what we are here to do and we will not shirk that responsibility at all, no matter who is involved. And so, I want to reassure all of you that the Nigerian Bar Association is standing by you and as you continue to perform your responsibility without fear or favour, remember that we are right behind you,” he said.

He also called on the members of the Magistracy in Nasarawa State to support the transferred Magistrate by delivering nothing less than justice in that particular matter, if the case comes before them.